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This talk was given by Julia Phillips at the Wiccan Conferencein
Canberra, 1991. It is mainly about the early days of theWicca in England;
specifically what we now call Gardnerian andAlexandrian traditions.

There are three main strands I intend to examine: one,Gardner's claim of
traditional initiation, and its subsequentdevelopment; two, magical
traditions to which Gardner wouldhave had access; and three, literary
sources.
As we look at these three main threads, it is important tobear in mind
that Gardner was 55 years old at the time of hisclaimed initiation; that he
had spent many years in Malaya,and had an enormous interest in magic,
Folklore and Mythology.By the time he published High Magic's Aid, he was 65,
and 75when "The Meaning of Witchcraft" appeared. He died in 1964, atthe
age of 80.

Gardner was born in 1884, and spent most of his working adultlife in
Malaya. He retired, and returned to the UK in 1936. Hejoined the Folklore
Society, and in June 1938, also joined thenewly opened Rosicrucian Theatre
at Christchurch where it issaid he met Old Dorothy Clutterbuck.
I chose 1939 as my arbitrary starting point as that was theyear that
Gerald Gardner claims he was initiated by OldDorothy into a practising coven
of the Old Religion, that metin the New Forest area of Britain. In his own
words,
"I realised that I had stumbled upon something interesting;but I was
half-initiated before the word, "Wica" which theyused hit me like a
thunderbolt, and I knew where I was, andthat the Old Religion still existed.
And so I found myself inthe Circle, and there took the usual oath of
secrecy, whichbound me not to reveal certain things." This quote is
takenfrom The Meaning of Witchcraft, which was published in 1959.
It is interesting that in this quote, Gardner spells Wiccawith only one
"c"; in the earlier "Witchcraft Today" (1954)and "High Magic's Aid" (1949),
the word Wicca is not evenused. His own derivation for the word, given in
"The Meaningof Witchcraft", is as follows:

"As they (the Dane and Saxon invaders of England) had nowitches of their
own they had no special name for them;however, they made one up from "wig"
an idol, and "laer",learning, "wiglaer" which they shortened into
"Wicca".
"It is a curious fact that when the witches became English-speaking they
adopted their Saxon name, "Wica"."

In "An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present", Doreen Valientedoes not
have an entry for Wicca, but when discussingWitchcraft, does mention the
Saxon derivation from the wordWicca or Wicce. In the more recently published
The Rebirth OfWitchcraft, however, she rejects this Saxon theory in
favourof Prof. Russell's derivation from the Indo-European root"Weik",
which relates to things connected with magic andreligion.

Doreen Valiente strongly supports Gardner's claim oftraditional
initiation, and published the results of hersuccessful attempt to prove the
existence of DorothyClutterbuck in an appendix to "The Witches' Way" by
Janet andStewart Farrar. It is a marvellous piece of investigation,
butproving that Old Dorothy existed does nothing to supportGardner's
claims that she initiated him.

In his book, "Ritual Magic in England", occultist Francis Kingdoes offer
some anecdotal evidence in support of Gardner'sclaims. However, it is only
fair to point out that in the samebook, he virtually accuses Moina Mathers
of murder, based upona misunderstanding of a story told by Dion Fortune!
With thatcaveat, I'll recount the tale in full:

King relates that in 1953, he became acquainted with LouisWilkinson, who
wrote under the pen-name of Louis Marlow, andhad contributed essays to
Crowley's Equinox. He later becameone of Crowley's literary executors. King
says that inconversation, Wilkinson told him that Crowley had claimed
tohave been offered initiation into a witch coven, but that herefused,
as he didn't want to be bossed around by a bunch ofwomen. (This story is
well-known, and could have been pickedup anywhere.)

Wilkinson then proceeded to tell King that he had himselfbecome friendly
with members of a coven operating in the NewForest area, and he thought that
whilst it was possible thatthey derived their existence from Murray's "Witch
Cult inWestern Europe", he felt that they were rather older.
King draws the obvious conclusion; that these witches were thevery same
as those who initiated Gardner. King claims that theconversation with
Wilkinson took place in 1953, although"Ritual Magic in England" was not
published - or presumablywritten - until 1970. However, on September 27
1952,"Illustrated" magazine published a feature by Allen Andrews,which
included details of a working by, "the Southern Coven ofBritish Witches",
where 17 men and women met in the New Forestto repel an invasion by Hitler.
Wilkinson had told King ofthis working during their conversation, which King
believes tobe proof that such a coven existed; there are some
differencesin the two stories, and so it is possible that two sources
arereporting the same event, but as Wilkinson's conversation withKing
came after the magazine article, we shall never know.

In the recently published "Crafting the Art of Magic", AidanKelly uses
this same source to "prove" (and I use the wordadvisedly - the book "proves"
nothing") that Gardner, Dorothy,et al created Wicca one night following a
social get together!

Of one thing we can be certain though: whatever its
origin,modern Wicca derives from Gardner. There may of course beother
traditional, hereditary witches, but even if they aregenuine, then it is
unlikely that they would have been able to"go public" had it not been for
Gardner.

There have been many claims of "hereditary" origin (other thanGardner's
own!) One of the most famous post-Gardner claimantsto "hereditary" status
was actress Ruth Wynn-Owen, who fooledmany people for a very long time
before being exposed. RoyBowers, who used the pseudonym Robert Cochrane, was
another:Doreen Valiente describes her association with him in
"TheRebirth of Witchcraft", and The Roebuck, which is still activein the
USA today, derives directly from Cochrane, via JoeWilson. "Witchcraft: A
Tradition Renewed" by Evan John Joneswith Doreen Valiente describes a
tradition derived from RobertCochrane. Alex Sanders, of course is another
who claimedhereditary lineage, and like Cochrane, deserves his own
placein this history, and we'll get to both of them later.

Many people have been suspicious of Gardner's claims, and haveaccused him
of making the whole thing up. They suggest thatthe Wicca is no more than the
fantasy of an old man colouredby a romantic imagination. One particularly
virulent attackupon Gardner came from Charles Cardell, writing under
thepseudonym of Rex Nemorensis.

One of Gardner's initiates who is still active in the Wiccatoday has an
interesting tale to tell about Cardell, whom heknew:

"Cardell claimed to be a Witch, but from a different traditionto
Gardner's. Cardell was a psychopathic rat, with malevolentintent toward all
and sundry. He managed to get a woman calledOlive Green (Florannis) into
Gardner's coven, and told her tocopy out the Book of Shadows so that Cardell
could publish it,and destroy Gardner. He also contacted a London paper,
andtold them when and where the coven meetings were held, and ofcourse
the paper got quite a scoop. Cardell led people in thecoven to believe that
it was Doreen Valiente who had informedon them.

Doreen had just left Gardner in a bit of a huff after adisagreement;
another coven member, Ned Grove, left with her.Anyway, the day the paper
printed the exposure, Cardell sentGardner a telegram saying, "Remember Ameth
tonight". (Amethwas Doreen's Craft name, and as it has now been published,
Isee no reason not to use it here)."

My informant also said that Olive Green was associated withMichael
Houghton, owner of Atlantis book shop in MuseumStreet, who was the publisher
of High Magic's Aid. Throughthis association, she also encountered Kenneth
Grant of theOTO, although their association was not friendly.
Cecil Williamson, the original owner of the witchcraft museumon the Isle
of Man, and present owner of the Witchcraft Museumin Boscastle, has also
published a number of articles where hestates quite categorically that
Gardner was an utter fraud;but, he offers only anecdotes to support these
allegations.
Although Gardner claimed his initiation occurred in 1939, wedon't really
hear anything about him until 1949, when "HighMagic's Aid" was published by
Michael Houghton.

This book has very strong Solomonic leanings, but likeGardner's own
religious beliefs, combined the more naturalforms of magic with high
ceremonial. In his introduction tothe book, Gardner says that: "The Magical
rituals areauthentic, party from the Key of Solomon (MacGregor
Mathers'translation) and partly from magical MSS in my
possession)."Gardner did indeed have a large collection of MSS,
whichpassed with the rest of his goods to Ripleys in Toronto afterhis
death.

Scire (pseudonym) was the name Gardner took as a member ofCrowley's
branch of the OTO; although it is generally agreedthat his membership was
purely nominal, he was certainly incontact with people like Kenneth Grant
and Madeline Montalban(founder of the Order of the Morning Star).
Gardner was given his OTO degree and Charter by AleisterCrowley, to whom
he was introduced in 1946 by Arnold Crowther.As Crowley died in 1947, their
association was not long-lived,but Crowther confirms that the two men
enjoyed each other'scompany.

In 1888, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was born,beginning a
renaissance of interest in the occult that hascontinued to the present day.
It is impossible to overstatethe importance of the GD to modern occultists;
not only in itsrituals, but also in its personalities; and of course,
throughmaking available a large body of occult lore that wouldotherwise
have remained unknown, or hidden in obscurity.
I will be looking at this body of occult lore with otherliterary
influences later, and will here concentrate on therituals and personalities
that have influenced Wicca.

We cannot look at the GD in isolation from its own origins. Itis
descended from a myriad of esoteric traditions includingRosicrucianism,
Theosophy, and Freemasonry. The latter in itsown right, as well as via the
SRIA - a scholarly andceremonial association open to Master Masons only.
Whether the German Lodge or Fraulein Sprengel actually existedis a matter
still under debate; but either in fact or inspirit, this is the source for
the "Cypher Manuscripts" whichwere used to found the Isis-Urania Lodge in
1888.

As I'm sure everyone knows, Isis-Urania was founded by DrWynn-Westcott,
Dr Woodman, and MacGregor Mathers. Not onlywere all three Master Masons;
Wynn-Westcott and Mathers werealso members of the Theosophical Society. The
most importantthing though is the fact the these three men were a
rulingtriumvirate that managed the affairs of the SRIA. This
isimportant, for the SRIA included Hargrave Jennings in itsmembership,
and Jennings is reputed to have been involved witha Pagan group at the end
of the 19th century, which drew itsinspiration from Apuleius - The Golden
Ass.

But back to the GD - whether the Cypher Manuscripts actuallyexisted, or
Wynn-Westcott manufactured them is now irrelevant;Mathers was commissioned
to write-up the rituals into aworkable shape, and thus the Golden Dawn was
born.
Members of the Isis-Urania Lodge at various times alsoincluded Allan
Bennett, Moina Mathers, Aleister Crowley,Florence Farr, Maud Gonne, Annie
Horniman, Arthur Machen,"Fiona Macleod", Arthur Waite and WB Yeats. Also
associatedwere Lady Gregory, and G W Russell, or AE, whose "The Candleof
Vision" was included in the bibliography of "The Meaning ofWitchcraft". The
literary and Celtic influences within the GDwere immense.

From the Isis-Urania Lodge sprang all the others, includingthe so-called
Dissident Orders derived through Crowley. It isthis line that some
commentators trace to modern Wicca, so itis the one upon which we will
concentrate.

Aleister Crowley was initiated into the Isis-Urania Lodge on18 November
1898. As you most probably know, Crowley laterquarrelled with MacGregor
Mathers, and in 1903 began to createhis own Order, the Argenteum Astrum, or
Silver Star. In 1912,Crowley was initiated into the OTO, and in 1921,
succeededTheodor Reuss as its Chief.

According to Arnold Crowther's account, it was in 1946, a yearbefore
Crowley's death, that Crowley gave Gardner an OTOCharter. Ithell Colquhoun
says only that it occurred in the1940s, and further states that Gardner
introduced materialfrom the OTO, and less directly from the GD, into "...the
loreof his covens".

As Doreen Valiente also admits, "Indeed, the influence ofCrowley was very
apparent throughout the (Wiccan) rituals.".This, Gardner explained to her,
was because the rituals hereceived from Old Dorothy's coven were very
fragmentary, andin order to make them workable, he had to supplement them
withother material.

To give an example of some of the lines by Crowley which arerather
familiar to modern Wiccans:
I give unimaginable joys on earth; certainty, not faith, whilein life,
upon death; peace unutterable, rest, ecstasy; nor doI demand aught in
sacrifice.

I am Life, and the giver of Life, yet therefore is theknowledge of me the
knowledge of death.
And of course, the Gnostic Mass has been immenselyinfluential.
Not only poetry, but also magical practices in Wicca are oftenderived
from GD sources. For example:
the way of casting the circle: that is, the visualisation ofthe circle,
and the pentagrams at the quarters, are both basedupon the standard GD
Pentagram Ritual;
both the concept and word "Watchtowers" are of course from theEnochian
system of Magic, passed to Wicca via the GD (althoughI would like to make it
very clear that their use within Wiccabears no relation to the use within
Enochia - the onlysimilarity is in the name);
the Elements and colours generally attributed to the Quartersare those of
the GD;
the weapons and their attributions are a combination of GD,Crowley and
Key of Solomon.

In "Witchcraft Today", Gardner says, "The people who certainlywould have
had the knowledge and ability to invent (the Wiccanrites) were the people
who formed the Order of the Golden Dawnabout seventy years ago...".
The GD is not the only influence upon Gardner; Freemasonry hashad a
tremendous impact upon the Wicca. Not only were thethree founders of
Isis-Urania Temple Masons, so too wereCrowley and Waite; Gardner and at
least one member of thefirst coven (Daffo) were both Co-Masons. Gardner was
also afriend of JSM Ward, who had published a number of books
aboutMasonry.

Doreen describes Ward as a "leading Mason", but Francis Kingsays only
that Ward was, "a bogus Bishop... who had writtensome quite good but
far-fetched books on masonry, and who rana peculiar religious-cum-occult
community called The Abbey ofChrist the King..." Whether the books were
far-fetched ornot, we can assume that some of the many similarities
betweenWicca and Masonry are in some ways due to Ward's influence.

Some of these include:
The Three DegreesThe CraftSo Mote It BeThe ChallengeProperly
PreparedThe 1st Degree Oath (in part)Presentation of the Working Tools
at 1st degree
and so on.

It seems to me quite clear that even if Gardner received atraditional set
of rituals from his coven, they must have beenexceptionally sparse, as the
concepts that we know of as Wiccatoday certainly derive from ceremonial
magic and Freemasonryto a very great extent. Indeed, Gardner always claimed
thatthey were sparse.

It could be argued that all derive from a common source. Thatthe
appearance of a phrase, or technique in one tradition doesnot automatically
suggest that its appearance elsewhere meansthat the one was taken from the
other. However, Gardner admitshis sources in many cases, and Doreen confirms
them in others,so I think it is safe to presume that the rituals
andphilosophy used by Wicca descends from the traditions ofFreemasonry
and Ceremonial magic, rather than from a singlecommon source. However, as
Hudson Frew points out in hiscommentary upon Aidan Kelly's book, the
phenomena of thetechniques and practices of ceremonial magic influencing
folkmagic and traditions is widely recognised by anthropologists,and
certainly does not indicate plagiarism. And of coursethere are many
traditional witchcraft aspects in the Wicca.

We have looked at the development of the magical orders whichresulted
from the British occult revival of the 19th and 20thcenturies, and now we
can see where this ties in with Wicca,and Gardner's claim of traditional
initiation.
I have here a "family tree" of the main branches of BritishWicca. It is
by no means exhaustive, and is intended toprovide an outline, not a
definitive history! I have includedmy own coven lines and development as an
indication of thekind of "cross-over" of tradition which often occurs, not
tosuggest that these are the only active groups! Also, it wouldnot be
ethical for me to include details of other covens.

We have two possible "hereditary" sources to the GardnerianCraft: one,
the Horsa Coven of Old Dorothy, and two, theCumbrian Group which Rae Bone
claims to have been initiatedinto before meeting Gardner. (NB: Doreen
Valiente says thatthe Horsa Coven is not connected with Old Dorothy, but
isanother group entirely.) There is also sometimes mention of aSt
Alban's group that pre-dates Gardner, but as far as I know,this is mistaken.
The St Albans group was Gardner's own group,which as far as research
confirms, did not pre-date him.

To return to Rae Bone: she was one of Gardner's HPSs, and her"line" has
been immensely important to the modern Wicca; shewas featured in the
magazine series, "Man Myth and Magic" ifanyone has a copy of that.
In her heyday she ran two covens: one in Cumbria, and one inSouth London.
Rae is still alive, and lives in Cumbria,although her last coven moved to
New Zealand many years ago,and she is no longer active. No-one has ever been
able totrace the coven in New Zealand.

At this point, I will just mention George Pickingill, althoughhe is not
shown on the tree, as I think it extremely dubiousthat he had any connection
with Gardner, or any other modernWiccan.
Pickingill died in 1909, whilst Gardner was still in Malaya.Eric Maple is
largely responsible for the beginnings of thePickingill myth, which were
expanded by Bill Liddell (Lugh)writing in "The Wiccan" and "The Cauldron"
throughout the1970s. Mike Howard still has some of Liddell's material
whichhe has never published, and I have yet to meet anyone withinthe
British Craft who gives credence to Liddell's claims.

In the book, "The Dark World of Witches", published in 1962,Maple tells
of a number of village wise women and cunning men,one of whom is George
Pickingill. There is a photographincluded of an old man with a stick,
holding a hat, whichMaple describes as Pickingill. This photograph
hassubsequently been re-used many times in books aboutwitchcraft and
Wicca.
Issue number 31 of "Insight" Magazine, dated July 1984,contains a very
interesting letter from John Pope:
"The photograph purporting to be Old George Pickingill is infact a photo
of Alf Cavill, a station porter at Ellstree,taken in the early 1960s. Alf is
now dead, but he was nowitch, and laughed over the photograph when he saw
it."

A very respected Craft authority has told me that he believesthe photo,
which is in his possession, to be of Pickingill,but like so much to do with
Craft history, there is nodefinitive answer to this one.
Many claims were made by Liddell; some obviously from cloud-cuckoo land,
others which could, by a stretch of theimagination, be accepted. The very
idea of Pickingill, anilliterate farm labourer, co-ordinating and
supervising ninecovens across the breadth of the UK is staggering. To accept
-as Liddell avers - that he had the likes of Alan Bennett andAleister
Crowley as his pupils bends credulity even further.
The infamous photograph which Liddell claims shows Crowley,Bennett and
Pickingill together has conveniently disappeared,and no-one admits to ever
having seen it. Like most ofLiddell's claims, nothing has ever been
substantiated, andwhen pushed, he retreats into the time honoured favourite
of,"I can't reveal that - you're not an initiate"!

But to return to the family tree: the names of DoreenValiente, Pat and
Arnold Crowther, Lois Bourne (Hemmings),Jack Bracelin and Monique Wilson
will probably be the mostfamiliar to you.
Jack Bracelin is the author of Gardner's biography, "GeraldGardner,
Witch", (published 1960) now out of print, althoughstill available 2nd hand,
and in libraries. (In Crafting theArt of Magic, Kelly claims that this book
was actually writtenby Idries Shah, and simply published under Bracelin's
name. Aswith every other claim, Kelly offers no evidence of this)
I have seen a copy of Bracelin's Book of Shadows, which it isclaimed
dates from 1949, although in The Rebirth OfWitchcraft, Doreen says that
Bracelin was a "relativenewcomer" in the mid-1950s. I have also been told by
twodifferent sources that Bracelin helped Gardner write "TheLaws". In
The Rebirth Of Witchcraft, Doreen states that shedid not see The Laws until
the mid 1950s, when she and herpartner Ned Grove accused Gardner of
concocting them in orderto re-assert control over the coven. As Bracelin was
in theGardner camp during the break-up of the group, it seemsreasonable
that he did in fact help with their composition.

(NB: Alex Sanders increased
the number of "The Laws" muchlater - these appeared in June Johns' book,
"The King of theWitches")
Although Doreen claims that the reason for the coven break-upwas the fact
that Gardner and Bracelin were publicity crazy,there was another reason,
which was the instatement of a newlady into the coven, effectively replacing
Doreen as HPS. Thisis also the main reason for Gerald's Law which states
that theHPS will, "...gracefully retire in favour of a younger
woman,should the coven so decide in council." Needless to say,Doreen was
not impressed, and she and Ned left the coven undervery acrimonious
circumstances. It was quite some time beforeDoreen had contact with Gardner
again, and they never quiteregained the degree of friendship that had
previously existed.

Monique and Campbell Wilson are infamous, rather than famous,as Gardner's
heirs who sold off his magical equipment andpossessions after his death, to
Ripleys in the USA.
Monique was the last of his Priestesses, and many Wiccanstoday still spit
when her name is mentioned. Pat Crowther wasrather scathing about her
recently in an interview, and in TheRebirth Of Witchcraft, although Doreen
tells of the sale ofGardner's magical possessions to Ripleys, she doesn't
evermention the Wilsons by name. In effect, the Craft closed
ranksagainst them, and they became outcasts.

Eventually, in the face of such opposition they had to sellthe Museum in
Castletown, and they moved to Torremolinos,where they bought a cafe. Monique
died nine years afterselling the Museum. It is rumoured that Campbell Wilson
movedto the USA, and met with a car accident there: this is onlyhearsay
though - I really do not know for sure what happenedto him.

However, Monique was influential in a way that even she couldnot have
imagined, when in 1964 or 5 she initiated RayBuckland, who with his wife
Rosemary (later divorced), wasvery influential in the development of the
Wicca in the USA.
Fortunately, Richard and Tamarra James managed to buy the bulkof
Gardner's collection back from Ripleys in 1987, for theprincely sum of
US$40,000, and it is now back within theCraft, and available for initiates
to consult and view.

D and C S. are probably completely anonymous, and if it werenot for the
fact that C initiated Robert Cochrane (brieflymentioned earlier) they would
probably stay that way!
Cochrane's origins are obscure, but I have been told that hewas initiated
into the Gardnerian tradition by C S, and metDoreen Valiente through a
mutual acquaintance in 1964. When hemet Doreen, however, he claimed to be a
hereditary witch, froma different tradition to Gardner's, and as Doreen
confirms,was contemptuous of what he called "Gardnerian" witches.Indeed,
Doreen believes he coined the term, "Gardnerian".
Doreen said she was completely taken in by Cochrane and for awhile,
worked with him and the "Clan of Tubal-Cain" as hedescribed his tradition,
which was also known as "The RoyalWindsor Cuveen", or 1734.

The figures "1734" have an interesting history. Doreen gives arather
strange account of them in The Rebirth Of Witchcraft,which contradicts what
Cochrane himself describes in a letterto Joe Wilson, dated "12th Night
1966", where he says,
"...the order of 1734 is not a date of an event but a groupingof numerals
that mean something to a witch.
"One that becomes seven states of wisdom - the Goddess of theCauldron.
Three that are the Queens of the Elements - firebelonging alone to Man, and
the Blacksmith God. Four that areQueens of the Wind Gods.

"The Jewish orthodoxy believe that whomever knows the Holy andUnspeakable
name of God has absolute power over the world ofform. Very briefly, the name
of God spoken as Tetragrammaton... breaks down in Hebrew to the letters
YHVH, or the AdamKadmon (The Heavenly Man). Adam Kadmon is a composite of
allArchangels - in other words a poetic statement of the names ofthe
Elements.

"So what the Jew and the Witch believe alike, is that the manwho
discovers the secret of the Elements controls the physicalworld. 1734 is the
witch way of saying YHVH." (Cochrane, 1966)
Although Doreen says that Cochrane's group was small, it stillproved to
be remarkably influential. As well as Cochrane andhis wife (whom Doreen
refers to as "Jean") and Doreen herself,there were others who are well-known
today, and a man calledRonald White, who very much wanted to bring about a
new age inEngland, with the return of King Arthur.
In The Rebirth Of Witchcraft, Doreen elaborates upon thecircumstances
surrounding the death of Cochrane: the baldfacts are that he died at the
Summer Solstice of 1966 of anoverdose. Craft tradition believes that he
became in fact, andof his own choice, the male ritual sacrifice which
issometimes symbolically enacted at the height of Summer.

The Royal Windsor Cuveen disbanded after Cochrane died, onlyto be re-born
from the ashes at Samhain that year under a newname - The Regency. All of
its early members were from theRoyal Windsor Cuveen, and they were under the
leadership ofRonald White. The Regency proved to be of great importance
tothe development of the Wicca, although its existence was kepta fairly
close secret, and even today, there are relativelyfew people who have ever
heard of it.

Meetings were held in North London, at a place called QueensWood. As well
as Ron White and Doreen Valiente, membersincluded "John Math", founder of
the Witchcraft ResearchAssociation in 1964, and editor of Pentagram
magazine, and thefounder of the Pagan Movement, Tony Kelly. At its
height,there were frequently more than 40 in attendance at rites,which
tended to be of the dramatic, pagan kind rather than theceremonial
associated with high ritual magic. The Regencyoperated fairly consistently
for over twelve years, finallydisbanding in 1978. The Membership roll reads
like a who's whoof the British Wicca! Some of the rites have been
incorporatedinto modern Wiccan rituals - in fact, one was used at the
PanEuropean Wiccan Conference 1991 with very great success.
Moving back over to Rae Bone's line, there are a number ofinfluential
people here, mainly through her initiates, Madgeand Arthur, who probably
take the award for the most prolificpair in Wiccandom! Rae, although
initiated by Gardner, does ofcourse also claim a hereditary status in her
own right.

Madge and Arthur's initiates include:
John and Jean Score
John Score was the partner of Michael Houghton (mentionedearlier), and
the founder of the Pagan Federation, which isvery active today.
Houghton died under very mysterious circumstances, which isbriefly
mentioned in "The Sword of Wisdom" by IthellColquhoun. My Craft source told
me that this was actually aritual that went badly wrong, and Houghton ended
up on thewrong end of some fairly potent energies.

There is an interesting anecdote about Houghton in The RebirthOf
Withcraft, which is taken from "Nightside of Eden" byKenneth Grant, and
agrees in some respect to a similar storythat I was told some years ago.
Doreen suggests in The RebirthOf Witchcraft that the story may relate to a
magical workinginvolving Kenneth Grant and his wife, Gardner, Dolores
North(Madeline Montalban), and an un-named witch, who was probablyOlive
Green.

They were all to perform a ritual together, supposedly tocontact an
extra-terrestrial being. The material basis for therite, which took place in
1949, was a drawing by AO Spare.
Apparently soon after the rite commenced, a nearby bookseller(Michael
Houghton) turned up and interrupted proceedings. Onhearing that Kenneth
Grant was within, he declined to enter,and wandered off. The rite was
disrupted, and the story goesthat everyone just went home.

Kenneth Grant claims that as a result of disturbing theirworking,
Houghton's marriage broke up, and that Houghton diedin mysterious
circumstances. In fact, the Houghton divorce wasa cause celebre, with her
suing him for cruelty because heboasted of being a Sagittarian while
sneering at her becauseshe was only a dingy old Capricorn!

The interrupted ritual could well have taken place. Madelinehad a flat
near to Atlantis (Houghton's shop), and wouldcertainly have known both Grant
and Houghton. I know for afact that Madeline was acquainted with Gerald,
although heropinion of both him and the Wicca was rather poor. One
ofMadeline's older students told me that she thought Gardnerrather a
fraud, and ritually inept. She also had a very lowopinion of Wiccans, and
refused to allow her own students toparticipate in Wiccan rites. The reason
for this lies in ananecdote which Doreen doesn't relate: the story goes
thatMadeline agreed to participate in a rite with Gerald, whichturned
out to involve Madeline being tied up and tickled witha feather duster! The
great lady was not amused.

Prudence Jones
Prudence was for many years the president of the PaganFederation, and
editor of its newsletter. She inherited herrole from John Score, after he
passed away. With NigelPennick, Prudence also runs the Pagan Anti-Defamation
League(PADL), and is an active astrologer and therapist. She hasedited a
book on astrology, and with Caitlin Matthews, edited"Voices from the
Circle", published by Aquarian Press.Although Prudence took her degree in
Philosophy, her maininterests lie in the areas of the Grail and troubadour
tales,and she has published privately an excellent essay on theGrail and
Wicca. She is also a very highly respectedastrologer, who lectures
extensively in Britain.

Vivianne and Chris Crowley
Vivianne Crowley, is author of "Wicca - The Old Religion inthe New Age",
and also secretary of the Pagan Federation. Shehas a PhD in Psychology, and
is perhaps the only person tohave been a member of both a Gardnerian Coven
and anAlexandrian one simultaneously!
Vivianne is very active at the moment, and has initiatedpeople in Germany
(having memorised the ritual in German - alanguage she doesn't speak!),
Norway, and - on the astral -Brazil. As a result of her book, she receives
many lettersfrom people from all around the world, and organised the
firstever pan-European Wiccan conference, held in Germany 1990.
Thesecond conference was held in Britain at the June solstice,and the
third (1992) in Norway. In 1993, the Conference willbe in Scotland.

John and Kathy (Caitlin) Matthews, are probably well-known toeveryone,
but possibly their Gardnerian initiations are notsuch common knowledge. The
story that John Matthews relates in"Voices from the Circle" is essentially
the one which he toldthe HPS who initiated him.

Pat and Arnold Crowther
I have left Pat and Arnold till last, as it is from their linethat the
infamous Alex Sanders derives! It is no secretanymore that Alex, far from
being initiated by his grandmotherwhen he was seven, was in fact turned down
by Pat Crowther in1961, but was later accepted by one of her ex-coven
members,Pat Kopanski, and initiated to 1st Degree.

In "The Rebirth of Witchcraft" Doreen says that Alex later metGardner,
and was allowed to copy from the Book of Shadows;Craft tradition is somewhat
different! It has always been said(even by Alex's supporters!) that he
pinched what he couldfrom Pat Kopanski before being chucked out, and that
the maindifferences between the Alexandrian and Gardnerian Books
ofShadows occur where Alex mis-heard, or mis-copied something!There are
certainly significant differences between the twoBooks; some parts of
Gardnerian ritual are quite unknownwithin the Alexandrian tradition, and the
ritual techniquesare often different. It is usually very easy to spot
whethersomeone is an Alexandrian, or Gardnerian initiate.

Alex needed a HPS, and as we know, chose Maxine Morris for therole.
Maxine is a striking Priestess, and made a very goodvisual focus for the
movement which grew in leaps and bounds.
In the late 1960s, Alex and Maxine were prolific initiators,and a number
of their initiates have become well known. Somecame to Australia, and there
are still a number of covens inthe UK today whose HP and/or HPS was
initiated by Alex orMaxine.

Alex and Maxine's most famous initiates are almost certainlyJanet and
Stewart Farrar, who left them in 1971 to form theirown coven, first in
England, then later, in Ireland. Throughtheir books, they have probably had
the most influence overthe direction that the modern Craft has taken.
Certainly inAustralia, the publication of "What Witches Do" was
anabsolute watershed, and with Janet and Stewart's consistentoutput,
their form of Wicca is more likely to become the"standard" than any other
type.

Since their early days of undiluted Alexandrianism, they havedrifted
somewhat towards a more Gardnerian approach, andtoday, tell everyone that
there are no differences between thetwo traditions. In fact, despite the
merging that has beenoccurring over the last few years, there are very
distinctdifferences between the traditions; some merely external,others
of a very significant difference of philosophy.

Seldiy Bate was originally magically trained by MadelineMontalban, and
then took an Alexandrian initiation from Maxineand Alex. Her husband, Nigel,
was also initiated by Maxine,and they have been "public" witches for a
number of years now,often appearing on TV, radio and in the press.
Theirbackground in ritual magic is expressed in the type of coventhat
they run; a combination of Wicca and Ceremonial Magic.
In 1971, Alex and Maxine went their separate ways. DavidGoddard is a
Liberal Catholic Priest, and for many years, heand Maxine worked in the
Liberal Catholic faith, and did notrun a coven of any kind. Then in 1984,
Maxine gatheredtogether a group again, and started practising a
combinationof Wicca, Qabalah and Liberal Catholicism. She and
Davidseparated in 1987, and since then her coven has beenexclusively
Wiccan. In 1989, she married one of her initiates,Vincent, and they are
still running an active coven in Londontoday.

Alex's history after the split was a little more sordid, withone girl he
married, Jill, filling the gutter press withstories about Alex being
homosexual, and defrauding her of allher money to spend on his boyfriends.
Sally Taylor wasinitiated by Maxine and David, but then transferred to
Alex.She was trained by him, and then started her own group.
I'd now like to focus upon the last of the strands which Ibelieve has
been influential upon the birth and development ofWicca; that of the
literary traditions and sources to whichGardner would have had access. To a
certain extent these arecontiguous with the magical traditions described
earlier, asnowhere is it ever suggested that Gardner did in fact
everwork in a magical Lodge, so we must assume that his knowledgecame
from the written form of the rites, not from the actualpractise of them.

From reading Gardner's books, it is quite apparent thatMargaret Murray
had a tremendous impact upon him. Her book,"The God of the Witches" was
published in 1933, and twelveyears previously, "The Witch Cult in Western
Europe" hadappeared. "The God of the Witches" has been
tremendouslyinfluential on a number of people, and certainly
inspiredGardner.

In fact, "Witchcraft Today", published by Gardner in 1954contained a
foreword by Margaret Murray. At this time,remember, Murray's work was still
taken seriously, and sheremained the contributor on the subject of
witchcraft for theEncyclopedia Britannica for a number of years.
Now of course her work has been largely discredited, althoughshe remains
a source of inspiration, if not historicalaccuracy. In Gardner's day, the
idea of a continuing worshipof the old pagan gods would have been a
staggering theory, andin the second article in my series about Murray
(published inThe Cauldron), I made the point that Murray may have had
topretend scientific veracity in order to get her work publishedin such
times. Don't forget that Dion Fortune had to publishher work privately, as
did Gardner with High Magic's Aid.Carlo Ginzburg's excellent book,
"Ecstasies", also supportsMurray's basic premise; although of course he
regrets herhistorical deceptions.

There were of course other sources than Murray. In 1899,"Aradia: Gospel
of the Witches" was published. Most ofCrowley's work was available during
the pre- and post-waryears, as were the texts written and translated by
MacGregorMathers and Waite. Also readily available were works such asThe
Magus, and of course the classics, from which Gardner drewmuch
inspiration.

Of paramount importance would have been "The White Goddess",by Robert
Graves, which is still a standard reference book onany British Wiccan's
bookshelf. This was published in 1952;three years after High Magic's Aid
appeared, and two yearsbefore Gardner's first non-fictional book about
witchcraft. Iwould just like to say at this point that Graves has
takensome very unfair criticism in respect of this book. The
WhiteGoddess was written as a work of poetry, not history, and
tocriticise it for being historically innaccurate is to miss thepoint.
Unfortunately, I agree that some writers have referredto it as an
"authority", and thus led their readers up thegarden path. This is not
Graves's fault, nor do I believe itwas his intention.

Another book which has had a profound influence on manyWiccans, and would
undoubtedly have been well known by Gardneris "The Golden Bough"; although
the entire book was writtenbased upon purely secondary research, it is an
extensiveexamination of many pagan practices from the Ancient World,and
the emphasis of the male sacrifice could certainly havebeen taken from here
equally as well as from Murray. Certainof the Gardnerian ritual practices
were almost certainlyderived from The Golden Bough, or from Frazer's own
sources.
In "Witchcraft Today" Gardner mentions a number of authorswhen
speculating where the Wiccan rites came from. He saysthat, "The only man I
can think of who could have invented therites was the late Aleister
Crowley."

He continues to say, "The only other man I can think of whocould have
done it is Kipling...". He also mentions that,"Hargrave Jennings might have
had a hand in them..." and thensuggests that "Barrat (sic) of The Magus,
circa 1800, wouldhave had the ability to invent or resurrect the cult."
It's possible that these references are something of a damagecontrol
operation by Gardner, who, according to Doreen, wasnot too impressed when
she kept telling him that sherecognised certain passages in the Witch rites!
"WitchcraftToday" was published the year after Doreen's initiation,
andperhaps by seeming genuinely interested in where the Ritescame from,
Gardner thought he might give the appearance ofinnocence of their
construction!

As mentioned previously, Gardner also had a large collectionof
unpublished MSS, which he used extensively, and one hasonly to read his
books to realise that he was a very well-readman, with wide-ranging
interests. Exactly the sort of man whowould be able to draw together a set
of rituals if required.
The extensive bibliography to "The Meaning of Witchcraft"published in
1959, demonstrates this rather well. Gardnerincludes Magick in Theory and
Practice and The Equinox of theGods by Crowley; The Mystical Qabalah by Dion
Fortune; TheGoetia; The White Goddess (Graves); Lady Charlotte
Guest'stranslation of The Mabinogion; English Folklore by ChristinaHole;
The Kabbalah Unveiled and the Abramelin by Mathers; bothMargaret Murray's
books and Godfrey Leland's Gypsy Sorcery, aswell as a myriad of classic
texts, from Plato to Bede!
Although this bibliography postdates the creation ofGardnerian Wicca, it
certainly indicates from where Gardnerdraws his inspiration from. There are
also several bookslisted which are either directly, or indirectly,
concernedwith sex magic, Priapic Cults, or Tantra.
Hargrave Jenning, mentioned earlier, wrote a book called
"TheRosicrucians, their Rites and Mysteries", which Francis
Kingdescribes as a book, "concerned almost exclusively withphallicism
and phallic images - Jennings saw the peniseverywhere."

As I mentioned earlier, Hargrave Jennings, a member of theSRIA, also
belonged to a group, described as a coven, whichmet in the Cambridge area in
the 1870s, and performed ritualsbased upon the classical traditions -
specifically, from TheGolden Ass. There is no evidence to support this,
except thatthere are often found references to a "Cambridge Coven"
linkedto Jennings' name.

Many of the rituals we are familiar with today
were of courselater additions by Doreen Valiente, and these have been
welldocumented by both her and the Farrars, in a number of books.Doreen
admits that she deliberately cut much of the poetry byAleister Crowley, and
substituted either her own work, orpoems from other sources, such as the
Carmina Gadelica.
Of course we can never really know the truth about the originsof the
Wicca. Gardner may have been an utter fraud; he mayhave actually received a
"Traditional" initiation; or, as anumber of people have suggested, he may
have created the Wiccaas a result of a genuine religious experience, drawing
uponhis extensive literary and magical knowledge to create, orhelp
create, the rites and philosophy.

What I think we can be fairly certain about is that he wassincere in his
belief. If there had been no more to the wholething than an old man's
fantasy, then the Wicca would not havegrown to be the force that it is
today, and we would not allbe sitting here in Canberra on a Saturday
morning!

1 comments:

My ancestors who were wiccan came from England Wiccan's. This piece you have written is very interesting to me. I am just starting out with my path and I am not sure where to begin or who to contact to help me on my journey.

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